Breaking the silence!

I kept watching the fields at day break, becoming visible from a distance, as the morning sun made it brighter and colourful. The splendour of the morning is in seeing the darkness getting consumed by the rising sun. It is the light that overcomes the darkness. I remembered a phrase in the Bible from Psalm 36:9, 'In Thy light we see light'. It is because of what is inside us, we are able to see what is outside. The light within us leads us to know and discern the light outside. 

It is because of the knowledge of what is darkness and light, one is able to make that contrast, when confronted by either of it. 

I was in that reflective pause, when the bird call sounded loud and tuneful in the silence of the morning. My attention turned in that direction. A Magpie robin was perched in a coconut palm and was engaged in the bird call, each call becoming longer in a crescendo fashion. 

The twilight and frequent long bird calls made the ambience serene to pause and take in the synchrony of silence and the alone voice. When  the bird call occurred, amidst the silence, it resonated within me as if it was a song to awaken me to behold the mystery of what a single small bird can do when it sings! The early morning silence  naturally brings a solemn ambience within. When that silence is interrupted by tuneful bird calls, there is a double effect of an inner composure. As the bird calls reached the interior silence, it was like a cord within gently moved  to bring music within. It was not the bird call after a while, but a tune originating from within. 

The twilight was replaced with the light of the rising sun. Other birds were flying between the flight stations. The silence of the early morning was soon interrupted. 

I became aware of how the silence around, bathes a person in interior silence. And in that interior silence, the bird calls ceased to be just external. There was a reciprocal tune within, felt in the interior silence. 

The silence and a singing bird became a symbol of a new consciousness. There is an experience beyond sounds and words. That experience is inner stillness. In that inner milieu, one hears the song of one's own soul.

I happened to read Psalm 35: 9 from the Bible later in the day: 'And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord...'

Such an experience is a reality, when one is made ready to feel the normal language of the soul within. 

A soulful experience prepares us for communion with God. 

As I was walking back to our cottage with other birds reaching the regular flight stations in our garden and the morning sun clothing the garden, I felt that there was a brilliance in nature! It was the radiance of the goodness of God!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)